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34 Best Online Course Platforms 2022

34 Best Online Course Platforms 2022 Our Top 10 List, Coupon Codes & Alternatives

34 Best Online Course Platforms 2022 - favicon -Crella | Updated in

March 14, 2024 @ 7:43 am

Which online course platform should you choose to create and deliver your courses? It can be a tough decision, with so many platforms to choose from. In this roundup, we’ll compare the 34 best online course platforms to help you decide which is best for you. So read on to find out more about each platform and how they can help you create and deliver your online courses.

Disclosure: Crella is an independent website providing well-researched reviews of the best software products. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It helps us to run the business. Some information may be outdated due to new features or changes in these platforms’ features on this page. Please always check the latest info from the website itself.

The future of education is going online. With Worldwide social distancing regulations, schools and individual teachers have had to find ways to teach students online.

It’s not always easy to find which is the best online course platform for your individual case. There are so many of them out there as the investors have been pumping funds into this rapidly-growing industry.

The E-Learning market size already surpassed USD 315 billion in 2021 and is projected to observe a 14% CAGR from 2022 to 2027.

If you’re a content creator or a teacher that would like to earn a side income, full income, or make a fortune by selling online courses – this is your time!

People are constantly figuring out new ways to earn money online, learning new skills for business, or just searching for a new passion. All they need is an expert to teach them.

You’d think that as YouTube is full of good video content people wouldn’t be willing to pay for online courses. But luckily, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

For example, John Lee Dumas has made over $1.5M in course revenue with his Thinkific course. Yes, you read that right. Over 1.5M US dollars! That’s a pretty life-changing income.

Of course, you don’t have to make that kind of money, but only the sky seems to be a limit when selling online courses. So whether you’re looking to just get started with online courses or already have an audience, we’ve written this article on all the best online course platforms that people are currently raving on.

The quick verdict of this article is to just get started with one of them — procrastination has killed many possibly best-selling businesses. All of these platforms have either a free trial, free plan, or a money-back guarantee. Our recommendation is to start with a one-month free trial on Thinkific.

What Are Online Course Platforms?

Online course platforms are websites or software that allow instructors to create and deliver courses to students. These platforms often include features such as discussion boards, assignment submission, and grade tracking.

There are many benefits to using an online course platform. For instructors, online course platforms provide a way to easily create and deliver courses. They also allow instructors to track student progress and grades. For students, online course platforms provide a convenient way to access course materials and communicate with instructors and classmates.

Many platforms also allow students to enroll in and take courses entirely online. There are many different online course platforms available, each with its own set of features and benefits. Instructors should choose a platform that best meets their needs and the needs of their students.

What Are the Best Online Course Platforms?

Best Online Course Platforms Featured Image
34 Best Online Course Platforms 2022 16

So, what are the best online course platforms to start with? Here’s our top list:

Best Overall Online Course Platform

Thinkific Review Overview
34 Best Online Course Platforms 2022 17

Pros

  • Easy-to-use course builder
  • Unlimited hosting
  • Dedicated app store
  • Great support team
  • Use a custom domain
  • Community forum

Cons

  • Some options only available on higher plans
  • The checkout process is not highly customizable

Thinkific was founded in 2012 by two Stanford grads. They wanted to make education more accessible and affordable. It’s an online learning platform where you can build courses on various topics, from data science to marketing to web development. Thinkific’s courses are often taught by industry experts and professionals who have years of experience in their field of expertise.

The latest update from Thinkific includes a new dashboard for teachers, which allows them to monitor the progress of their students and see how they are doing in real-time. The dashboard also has built-in tools for tracking student engagement with the course content, as well as tools for making announcements and giving feedback.

Made for busy professionals who want to learn new skills on the go, Thinkific is made to deliver! Your students can take courses when time allows, or watch videos for bite-sized lessons that are perfect for your daily commute or lunch break. It has changed the way millions of people learn online.

Key Features:

  • Course Builder: Create your own course in no time with templates and drag-and-drop editing—no coding required!
  • Live Lessons: With Thinkific, you can offer recurring live lessons to boost engagement and add variety to your course offerings.
  • App Integrations: These apps are tools that will help you to save time and money while increasing your productivity. With 80+ apps in the Thinkific app store, we provide all of these benefits at no cost!
  • Customizable Website Themes: Create your own website with customizable templates or build an advanced site from scratch.
  • Checkout optimizations: Thinkific has a streamlined checkout process so you can get your customers’ orders processed more quickly. It’s all about speed, efficiency, and getting people into their inboxes as soon as possible!
  • Course & Community Connection: By leveraging Thinkific’s experience in developing online learning communities for thousands of courses, they can build a seamless connection between your course and its students. This will enable an all-inclusive student experience that is tailored to their needs as they progress through the material together!

Pricing

Thinkific is an online course platform that offers a free plan for testing its features, as well as more expensive plans for those who are serious about creating an online course. The basic plan starts at $39 per month, while the pro plan starts at $79 per month. The premier plan, which is designed for those who are ready to invest in online education business, starts at $399 per month. 

Some of the features of the different plans include unlimited courses and students, content, membership sites, completion certificates, and Zoom meetings and webinars.

Thinkific Coupon Code / Promotion

It’s mandatory to search for a Thinkific coupon code because why not! It can save you money on your purchase. A coupon code is a unique code that you can enter at checkout or just click the link to get a discount on your purchase. 

Thinkific coupon codes are usually available for a limited time. We have found one that gets you a 30-day free trial on their Pro plan. Just click the link below to activate the Thinkific coupon code.

Read our full Thinkific review.

Best Online Course Platform for Newbies

Best Online Course Platforms Teachable Overview
Best Online Course Platforms Teachable Overview

Pros

  • Free plan available
  • Very user-friendly platform
  • Unlimited students & courses
  • Courses can be set up fast
  • Navigate easily between features
  • In-house email marketing tools
  • Video hosting included
  • Advanced quizzes & certificates

Cons

  • Slightly worse money-to-features value than some other competitors
  • 5% transaction fee on their first paid plan

Teachable is the online course platform that lets you create and sell courses to students all over the world.

With Teachable, you can build your own custom course website, manage student payments, and access powerful marketing tools. Plus, Teachable offers a wide range of pricing plans to fit your needs.

If you’re looking for a way to monetize your knowledge and expertise, Teachable is a great option to consider.

In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at the features, pricing, pros, and cons of using Teachable to create and sell online courses.

Key Features:

Start Selling Instantly: Create a personalized, professional online course that immediately starts generating revenue. Use Teachable’s easy-to-use sales page builder to get started and then customize your checkout process with all of the features you need in just one place.

Extend the Platform with Connections: Extend your workflows and automate more of them using Teachable’s public API to integrate seamlessly into MailChimp, Zapier, or ConvertKit.

Monetize in Many Ways: Monetize in any way you want with Teachable’s wide range of payment options. Get paid by customers from anywhere around the world, including 130+ currencies and more via Apple Pay Google Pay PayPal, etc.

Boost Your Earnings: Boost your earnings with order bumps, bundles, and more! You’ll have all the tools you need to sell like a pro.

Affiliate Marketing Tools: Using the Teachable platform, you can partner with affiliates to promote your courses. Similarly, if a customer refers their friend who’s already taken one of your classes and needs help getting started or understanding something in-depth – they’ll make it easy for them!

Pricing

Teachable offers a variety of pricing plans, ranging from free to $299/month.

The most popular plan is the Basic Plan, which costs $39/month and includes unlimited courses & students, as well as custom domain names and email marketing tools.

The Pro Plan ($119/month) offers additional features such as API access, affiliate marketing, Live Chat, and live group coaching.

Finally, the Business Plan ($299/month) is Teachable’s ultimate plan, which includes 20 admin users and advanced theme customizations.

Teachable Coupon Code / Promotion

It’s mandatory to search for a Teachable coupon code because why not! It can save you money on your purchase. A coupon code is a unique code that you can enter at checkout or just click the link to get a discount on your purchase. 

Teachable coupon codes are usually available for a limited time. We have found one that gets you 10% off on their plans. Just click the link below and use the code MAGIC10 to activate the Teachable coupon code.

Read our full Teachable review.

Best for Online Course Community Building

Best Online Course Platforms LearnWorlds Overview
Best Online Course Platforms LearnWorlds Overview

Pros

  • Intuitive & friendly course creator
  • Professional-looking design for students
  • Extract transcripts
  • Integrates beautifully with other platforms
  • Certificates for students
  • Create a white-label brand
  • Mobile app
  • No transaction fees

Cons

  • Could have a few more integrations
  • Needs slightly more customization tools
  • Could have a few more templates

No one has time to go to college anymore. With jobs requiring more and more specialized skills, it is becoming more and more difficult to keep up with the fast-paced and ever-changing, technology-driven world.

LearnWorlds is a simple, but powerful course creation platform that lets you not only create courses but also sell them online. The platform is loaded with awesome features that make content distribution easy for both creators and customers.

With LearnWorlds LMS, you can create online courses that are just right for your customers. Whether they want to be a professional dancer or have a winning smile, they have the perfect course for them. Your customers come back time and time again to learn more.

If you’re looking for a powerful and advanced LMS solution, LearnWorlds’s library is packed with features that will help you create and deliver interactive training courses that provide your employees with access to knowledge anytime and anywhere across devices.

Key Features:

Synchronized Transcript: The transcripts of your videos can be automatically extracted and made much easier for viewers to navigate. This is achieved with an interactive transcript that you input, which creates a dynamic experience where users are able to understand what’s happening in the video without having any trouble understanding it!

Truly White Labelled: Your clients will love you more if they can connect with your brand. So, let them learn from the same content on a single platform by removing LearnWorlds branding!

Sell Memberships, Subscriptions, and Bundles: Get access to all of the digital marketing products you will ever need with our LearnWorlds’s extensive collection. You can offer subscriptions, course bundles, and private courses as well!

Question Banks: With the increasing need for continuing education and certification programs, LearnWorlds offers a secure way of creating pool questions on various course topics with randomizer features to make sure each test is unique.

Community is King: An integrated social network is a place for learners to discuss issues, and exchange ideas and tips with other members within the community of practice. Learners are able to share their experiences as well as advice from others on what has worked best in order to help out those who might need some guidance too!

Pricing

Learnworlds offers four pricing plans: Starter, Pro Trainer, Learning Center, and Enterprise. The Starter Plan is best for newbie course creators to get started selling online courses.

The Pro Trainer plan is for professional trainers that are looking to unlock question banks and the affiliate program. The Learning Center plan is the most popular plan for professional course creators!

The Enterprise plan is for businesses that need to use the API and webhooks, unlock even more premium templates, and add video watermarks if needed.

LearnWorlds Coupon Code / Promotion

It’s mandatory to search for a LearnWorlds coupon code because why not! It can save you money on your purchase. A coupon code is a unique code that you can enter at checkout or just click the link to get a discount on your purchase. 

LearnWorlds coupon codes are usually available for a limited time. We have found one that gets you a 30-day free trial on all of their plans. Just click the link below to activate the LearnWorlds coupon code.

Read our full LearnWorlds review.

#4. Kajabi

Best for All-in-One Website & Online Course Builder

Best Online Course Platforms Kajabi Overview
Best Online Course Platforms Kajabi Overview

Pros

  • Easy course and membership creation
  • Drag & Drop platform
  • A/B testing
  • In-house marketing tool
  • Kajabi’s prices are very reasonable
  • Also great for blogging & website creation
  • Drip courses

Cons

  • Limited integrations
  • Many features might overwhelm you
  • Some users have had issues with email deliverability

Kajabi is an all-in-one platform providing a variety of tools, including webinars, online courses, and integrations that offer a powerful platform to take your business to the next level.

They empower you to build your own business without spending years of energy and money on it. With Kajabi, you can build a high-quality business without having to worry about hiring designers, designing products or courses, or taking care of any backend issues; simply use their easy-to-use templates and wizards. You’ll have your own site up in minutes.

With Kajabi’s drag & drop features, it’s super-easy to work. Simply add what you’re going to teach and press publish. Create a tailored landing page for your course in minutes or invite your entire list for more on your product launch.

Key Features:

Create Engaging Content: Make your content more engaging by adding videos, images, and text. You can also upload audio or PDF files for people who prefer to read on paper!

Drip Content: Drip lessons are a great way to make sure your students get all of the information they need in order, without feeling overwhelmed.

Quizzes: Quizzes are a great way to assess students’ understanding of the material. You can even require students who don’t know what they should be doing or answer correctly on an assessment, so you always have their attention!

Course Insights: The course insights feature allows you to track your lesson progress, view grades, and get detailed analytics on how well students are digesting the content.

Neat Website Builder: Create your perfect website with the drag-and-drop builder that is seamlessly integrated into marketing.

Subscription Payments: Subscriptions are a great way to build customer loyalty and create repeat business. With weekly, monthly, or annual subscription plans you can offer your customers the perfect fit for their needs with just one purchase!

High-Converting Page Templates: Choose from a library of beautiful, mobile-ready landing page templates for every marketing need. Choose between sales pages and opt-in forms to gather your information quickly without fussing over too much formatting!

Pricing

Kajabi pricing plans range from $119 to $399/month and offer different features like the number of products or pipelines that can be created, as well as the maximum number of contacts and active members.

The Basic plan is great for getting started and includes features like 3 products, 3 pipelines, 10,000 contacts, 1,000 active members, and automations.

The Growth Plan is perfect for those who are looking to scale their business and includes 15 products, 15 pipelines, 25,000 contacts, 10,000 active members, and advanced automations.

Finally, the Pro plan is ideal for users who have already scaled their business and need features like 100 products, 100 pipelines, 100,000 contacts, 20,000 active members, advanced automations, and a code editor.

All plans come with automations and chat support.

Kajabi Coupon Code / Promotion

It’s mandatory to search for a Kajabi coupon code because why not! It can save you money on your purchase. A coupon code is a unique code that you can enter at checkout or just click the link to get a discount on your purchase. 

Kajabi coupon codes are usually available for a limited time. We have found one that gets you a 30-day free trial. Just click the link below to activate the Kajabi coupon code.

Read our full Kajabi review.

Best for Online Course Platform for WordPress

Best Online Course Platforms LearnDash Overview
Best Online Course Platforms LearnDash Overview

Pros

  • Ease of use, the interface is very intuitive and easy to use
  • WordPress integration: LearnDash integrates tightly with WordPress, making it easy to set up and use
  • Completely white-label
  • One of the most affordable LMS platforms on the market
  • Lots of features
  • Easy-to-follow documentation

Cons

  • If you’re new to WordPress, it will be a struggle
  • Not the best to create large and scalable products.

Heavy, expensive, and complicated learning management systems are barriers to entry for new players in the education industry. With LearnDash, you can save your money, time, and hassle by integrating your own WordPress website with the world-class LMS.

LearnDash is an LMS (learning management system) that is built and optimized for WordPress. It’s a lightweight, flexible LMS that helps educators of all skill levels power their programs with the highest quality resources.

The platform offers a variety of tools for educators including Course Builder, Content Editor, Quiz Creator, Assessment Builder, and more.

Key Features:

Easy Drag & Drop Course Builder: The course builder that every marketer needs, whether they are building courses for themselves or as part of their business. With the drag and drop functionality, you can create beautiful designs in seconds without any coding skills required.

Advanced Quizzing: Quizzing is a game that tests your knowledge of different topics. You can create custom questions with the option to use question banks or add more than eight types.

Flexible Prerequisites: Flexible prerequisites can be set so that you only need to have met certain requirements before being allowed access to courses, lessons, or quiz goals.

Discussion Forums: A place where you can talk about the content with other people, and get feedback from their opinions.

Badges & Certificates: You can award an official certificate to your students for achieving high scores. This is perfect if getting flying colors on all questions sound too tough or challenging.

Leaderboards: Leaderboards are a great way to publicly reward learners who obtain the best scores on quizzes in your courses. They make it easy for students and teachers alike, as well!

Subscriptions: Maximize your course revenue with recurring payments! Choose the frequency of payment you would like for each subscription, and set it up in a few easy steps.

Works with Any Theme: The plugin is compatible with any modern WordPress theme, so you can use it on your own site without having to do extra work.

Pricing

The different LearnDash pricing plans offer different numbers of site licenses, with the most expensive plan offering 25 site licenses. All plans include unlimited courses and users, as well as all of the features offered by LearnDash.

The ProPanel is included with the Plus and Pro plans, offering ultimate student management and activity tracking.

LearnDash Coupon Code / Promotion

It’s mandatory to search for a LearnDash coupon code because why not! It can save you money on your purchase. A coupon code is a unique code that you can enter at checkout or just click the link to get a discount on your purchase. 

LearnDash coupon codes are usually available for a limited time. We have only found their regular 15-day money-back guarantee offer. Just click the link below to start with LearnDash.

Read our full LearnDash review.

#6. Podia

Best Kajabi Alternative for All-in-One Platform

Best Online Course Platforms Podia Overview
Best Online Course Platforms Podia Overview

Pros

  • 0% transaction fees on paid plans
  • An extensive set of features
  • Extremely easy to use
  • Podia is an affordable all-in-one platform
  • Create webinars
  • Looks great on the students’ side

Cons

  • Many tools might confuse you if you just want to build an online course
  • The email marketing tool is not the best one

Stop wasting time with different tools. Use Podia to make your online course, run a paid webinar, sell your ebooks, or sell your services. You’ll get everything you need in one place with Podia’s simple & beautiful platform. Plus it integrates with any emailing tool and payment processor you want to use.

You’re a small business owner who wants to grow your business, but you’ve been struggling to figure out how to connect all the different tools you need. There’s too much work, and it’s taking up too much time. Podia is an all-in-one solution for you. One platform for everything to help you grow!

Podia will save you time, money, and frustration in managing your business while allowing you to grow your work at the same time.

Key Features:

Pre-Sell Courses: Pre-selling is a great way to get feedback and validation on your next course idea before you launch.

Drip Courses: Deliver the content of your courses to students on a schedule that you set.

Cohort Courses: Create an online course that allows for live interaction and creates a sense of community by setting future start dates so all your students take the same courses at once.

Modern Site Builder: You can get a beautiful sales page up and running without technical headaches.

Certificates: Give your customers an incentive to complete their courses by giving them the opportunity of custom certificates. Make sure they know how proud you are with these personalized awards that show just what kind of service or product was achieved!

Video Hosting Included: Give your videos a professional boost with Podia. Whether you need unlimited bandwidth or not, they got the space for all of it!

Pricing

Podia offers three pricing plans, which are Free, Mover, and Shaker. The features offered in these plans are online courses, membership sites, and digital downloads.

The Shaker plan is perfect for businesses that are already selling online courses and need more features to scale their business. This plan includes everything in the Mover plan, plus affiliate marketing.

The Earthquaker plan is perfect for businesses that are already selling online courses and need more features to scale their business. This plan also provides an affiliate marketing feature.

Podia’s pricing plans are very affordable and give users a lot of features for their money.

Podia Coupon Code / Promotion

It’s mandatory to search for a Podia coupon code because why not! It can save you money on your purchase. A coupon code is a unique code that you can enter at checkout or just click the link to get a discount on your purchase. 

Podia coupon codes are usually available for a limited time. We didn’t find a coupon code for Podia, but Podia offers a free plan and up to $33 off when you sign up for annual plans. Just click the link below to activate the Podia savings.

Read our full Podia review.

Minimalist Alternative to Pricier Online Course Platforms

Best Online Course Platforms Teachery Overview
Best Online Course Platforms Teachery Overview

Pros

  • Unlimited courses & students
  • Easy for beginners
  • Affordable features-to-price ratio
  • Custom domains
  • Affiliate program

Cons

  • Limited features
  • You have to play a lot with 3rd party services

Teachery is an online platform that helps teachers manage their classes and share them with the rest of the world. Teachery allows teachers to create lessons, distribute those lessons to students, and earn small amounts of cryptocurrency for teaching in a way that benefits their students.

Key Features:

Unlimited Courses, Lessons, and Students: Teahery wants to give you the best price possible for your course. That’s why they don’t host videos or audio files – it all goes through YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms so they can provide high-quality service at free or low costs!

Payment Pages, Recurring Payments (Payment Plans or Memberships), and Promo Codes: Start selling your online course today and get started with a payment solution that works for you. You can customize the design, and set up monthly or annual payments using Stripe.

Sales Pages, Landing Pages, and Email Capture Pages: Teachery’s sales/landing page creator makes it incredibly easy and quick to promote your courses.

Custom Domains: Teachery offers the ability to house your course on any custom domain you like. This is helpful if, for example, one wants an unrelated set of educational courses but still wants them all under their name (or company).

Comments and Community: Your course is just as much a community for you and the students who take it. That’s why Teachery’s integrates seamlessly with Disqus, so comments can be made directly from within any of our courses! The integration also enables in-course interactions between individuals or groups on platforms like Facebook Groups – promoting not only what they’re learning but themselves too!

Course Lesson Scheduling (aka Drip Content): You can now let people buy your course, but then drip-feed the lessons out to students over time based on a schedule you decide! You choose when they unlock and how often.

Pricing

Teachery has affordable pricing options, with the monthly plan at $49/month and the yearly plan at $470/year.

Both the monthly and yearly plans offer unlimited courses, lessons, and students, as well as the ability to create subscriptions and drip content.

The only difference between the two plans is that the yearly plan saves you 20% off the monthly price.

There are no transaction fees for either plan.

Teachery Coupon Code / Promotion

It’s mandatory to search for a Teachery coupon code because why not! It can save you money on your purchase. A coupon code is a unique code that you can enter at checkout or just click the link to get a discount on your purchase. 

Teachery coupon codes are usually available for a limited time. We have found one that gets you a 14-day free trial on their plan. Just click the link below to activate the Teachery coupon code.

Read our full Teachery review.

#8. Ruzuku

Funky Alternative to Build Your Online Course

Best Online Course Platforms Ruzuku Overview
Best Online Course Platforms Ruzuku Overview

Pros

  • Very user-friendly to use
  • Zero transaction fees
  • Friendly customer support
  • Marketing tool integrations

Cons

  • Ruzuku’s free trial period is only 14 days
  • Only email support

Ruzuku is a web-based course platform that allows instructors to create, deliver, and sell online courses. It has a simple and easy-to-use interface that makes creating a course a breeze.

Ruzuku also offers a wide range of features for instructors, including the ability to create modules, track student progress, add quizzes and assignments, and more.

Ruzuku has a lot to offer instructors who are looking for an easy-to-use platform to create and deliver online courses. However, there are a few drawbacks to using Ruzuku that should be considered before signing up for a subscription.

Key Features:

Simple Course Management: Ruzuku provides an all-in-one platform for instructors to easily create courses. It’s easy, intuitive, and powerful so you can focus on what matters most – teaching.

Launch Courses Quickly: Ruzuku makes it super fast to get your online training up and running. This saves you time so that you can focus on creating awesome content, not worrying about tech skills.

Easy Payment Integration: Accept payments through Stripe, and PayPal. If you want to stick with a particular payment system, Ruzuku can integrate your own.

Live Courses & Webinars: Schedule your course with the click of a button. You can even enter in some extra information and have it e-mailed right to your students, so there’s no need for any notes or notebooks.

Subscription Payments: Flexible subscriptions and single payments allow you to charge in ways that work for your students.

Coupons & Deals: Coupons are a way to bring in more customers and make your students an offer they won’t refuse.

Pricing

Ruzuku pricing offers different plans for different users, depending on their needs.

The Bootstrapper plan is for a single instructor who wants to start selling on Ruzuku, while the Up-and-Comer plan is for an instructor that wants to unlock more features, like webinars and subscription payments.

The University plan is for multiple instructors and site managers and includes the use of your own domain.

Ruzuku Coupon Code / Promotion

It’s mandatory to search for a Ruzuku coupon code because why not! It can save you money on your purchase. A coupon code is a unique code that you can enter at checkout or just click the link to get a discount on your purchase. 

Ruzuku coupon codes are usually available for a limited time. We haven’t found one, but they offer a 14-day free trial on their plans. Just click the link below to activate Ruzuku’s offer.

Read our full Ruzuku review.

Good for Project Management and Collaboration

Best Online Course Platforms Systeme Overview
Best Online Course Platforms Systeme Overview

Systeme.io is a web-based application that helps online course creators manage their courses more effectively. It offers a variety of features, including the ability to create and manage modules, track student progress, and generate reports.

Systeme.io also integrates with popular learning management systems (LMS), such as Moodle and Blackboard. This makes it easy for online course creators to use Systeme.io in conjunction with their existing LMS.

Systeme.io is a valuable tool for online course creators who want to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their courses. It offers a wide range of features that can help course creators manage their courses more effectively and engage their students more effectively.

Systeme.io is easy to use and integrates well with popular LMS systems, making it a valuable tool for online course creators.

Their pricing starts at $19/month and you save 30% on annual plans. Get started with their free plan or free trial on paid plans.

Good for Social Network Building

Best Online Course Platforms Mighty Networks Overview
Best Online Course Platforms Mighty Networks Overview

Mighty Networks is the place for online course creators.

They offer everything you need to create, market, and sell your courses online. With their easy-to-use platform and comprehensive suite of tools, you can build a community of engaged students and start making money from your expertise today.

Here are some of the things you can do with Mighty Networks:

-Create and sell courses on any topic you want

-Build a community of engaged students around your courses

-Market your courses to a wider audience

-Get paid for your expertise

If you’re ready to start making money from your online courses, sign up for Mighty Networks today. They’ll give you everything you need to get started and help you every step of the way.

Their pricing starts at $33/month and you save 15% on annual plans. Get started with their free trial on paid plans.

Best Alternatives for the Best Online Course Platforms

Best Online Course Platforms for WordPress

What if you don’t want a hosted all-in-one online course platform, but want to get your hands dirty with the DIY stuff instead? Well, we’ve got great news, WordPress has multiple great online course plugins that allow you to create your online course business on top of the hand WordPress framework.

We’ve already reviewed the LearnDash (#1 Best Online Course Platform for WordPress), but there are a bunch of other cool alternatives that could fit you better.

Generally, WordPress online course plugins are way cheaper than traditional online course platforms. They pack pretty much the same features, but you may have to pay extra for some features, install additional plugins, and take care of the hosting of your platform and your videos.

If you’re already familiar with the WordPress ecosystem, we’d suggest you take a look at these WordPress plugins. If you don’t have any experience with WordPress, please use the traditional online course platforms like Thinkific. You’ll save a lot of time and money even though they seem higher priced. In the end, you need to have an online course platform that is fast, reliable, and fast to use. You don’t want to waste any time when the #1 goal is to get your online course out there and start to generate sales.

Great for Creating Exclusive Online Courses

Best Online Course Platforms MemberPress Overview
Best Online Course Platforms MemberPress Overview

Memberpress.com is a website that helps online course creators to manage their courses, students, and payments. It offers a wide variety of features to help creators keep their courses running smoothly and efficiently.

Some of these features include the ability to create quizzes, set up forums, and track student progress. MemberPress also offers a payment gateway so that creators can accept payments for their courses easily and securely.

Overall, MemberPress is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to create or manage an online course.

Their pricing starts at $179/year and you save up to $200 on bulk purchases. Get started with their 14-day money-back guarantee.

Helps Trainers and Educators Create, Deliver, and Track Online Course

Best Online Course Platforms LifterLMS Overview
Best Online Course Platforms LifterLMS Overview

LifterLMS is the perfect platform for online course creators. It’s simple to use, yet packed with features that will make your courses shine.

With LifterLMS, you can create and sell online courses with ease. Plus, LifterLMS integrates with all of the most popular payment processors, so you can get started quickly and start selling courses right away.

So if you’re ready to create and sell online courses, LifterLMS is the perfect platform for you.

Their pricing starts at $120/year and you save $1,000+ on bulk purchases. Get started with their 100% 30-day money-back guarantee.

#3. Sensei

Top-Notch & Minimalist WordPress LMS Plugin

Best Online Course Platforms Sensei Overview
Best Online Course Platforms Sensei Overview

The importance of creativity and innovation in online course creation is well-taken care on Sensei. That’s why their platform is designed to help you unleash your creative potential and produce courses that are not only engaging and informative but also highly innovative.

With Sensei, you have everything you need to create dynamic and exciting online courses that will engage and inspire your students.

Their pricing starts at $149/year and you save $200 on bulk purchases. Get started with their 100% 14-day money-back guarantee.

Easy to Use Course Builder (LMS) for WordPress

Best Online Course Platforms WP Course Overview
Best Online Course Platforms WP Course Overview

If you’re an online course creator, then you know that there’s always room for improvement. You may have already taken a few courses on how to create better online courses, but sometimes it’s helpful to get advice from those who are experts in the field. WP Course is dedicated to helping online course creators improve their courses and make them more successful.

WP Course’s website is full of advice from top online course creators, including how to create engaging content, how to market your courses, and how to overcome common challenges. You’ll also find helpful resources, such as templates and tutorials.

Whether you’re just getting started with online courses or you’re looking to take your courses to the next level, WP Course’s plugin is a great resource for you.

Their pricing starts at $79/year. Get started with their 100% 30-day money-back guarantee.

Incredible LMS WordPress Plugin

Best Online Course Platforms LearnPress Overview
Best Online Course Platforms LearnPress Overview

Have you ever wished there was an easier way to create and manage your courses on WordPress? If so, then the LearnPress WordPress plugin is just what you need! With this plugin, you can create and manage your courses with ease – and best of all, it’s free!

LearnPress is a comprehensive WordPress plugin that makes it easy to create and manage your online courses. You can easily add course materials, quizzes, assignments, and more. You can also track student progress and manage payment options for your courses. LearnPress is an ideal solution for anyone who wants to create and manage their own online courses.

If you’re looking for an easy-to-use WordPress plugin to create and manage your courses, then look no further than LearnPress!

Their pricing starts at free! Upgrade to the LearnPress PRO Bundle if you want to take everything out of their platform.

The Best Online Learning Platforms

Now we’ve wrapped up the 20+ best online course platforms that you can use to independently build your online course. But are there any other ways to start teaching online? Maybe something even easier?

The answer is yes!

There are plenty more in the online learning platforms -category. You may wonder what is an online learning platform in the first place!

Well, online learning platforms are more of a marketplace for online courses. Pretty much like Amazon is for books and other stuff. They offer a wide variety of online courses in different niches. They may offer individual prices or a complete marketplace-wide subscription.

They offer a variety of courses on different subjects, and you can learn at your own pace. You can also access these platforms from anywhere in the world, as long as you have an internet connection. Plus, most online learning platforms are affordable, and some even offer free courses.

They’re normally free to join as a course maker, but you as a course maker make a commission out of their sales.

The good part of these marketplaces is that they already have massive customer databases, they market your courses with big budgets, and they host all of your videos. They also offer certificates that could become really valuable to the customer when applying for a job.

The downsides are that they may force you to sell at a certain price, offer a low commission, or make algorithm changes that could drop your earnings overnight. You may also be tied to their platform and not be allowed to sell courses elsewhere.

Overall, online learning platforms are a great way to get started selling online courses with little or no money. Many best-selling individual course creators have first started on these marketplace platforms and then progressed to host their own platforms.

Explore Thousands of Hands-On Creative Classes

Skillshare Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page
34 Best Online Course Platforms 2022 18

Skillshare is an online learning community with over 18,000 classes in design, business, technology, and more. Anyone can join Skillshare for free and explore our library of classes.

Teachers on Skillshare are passionate professionals who want to share their knowledge and expertise with the world. If you’re interested in becoming a teacher on Skillshare, they welcome you to apply. They review all applications and select teachers based on the quality of their class proposals, their experience, and their alignment with Skillshare’s mission to make creativity accessible to everyone.

Once you’re selected to teach on Skillshare, you’ll have access to their teacher community and resources, including:

– A comprehensive guide to teaching on Skillshare

– Tips and best practices from successful Skillshare teachers

– Invitations to exclusive teacher events

#2. Udemy

Choose from 185,000 Online Video Courses

Udemy Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page
Udemy Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page

Udemy is an online course platform that provides a powerful and easy-to-use framework for course creators. They help instructors share their knowledge and expertise with students from all over the world. Instructors can create courses on any topic they want, and students have access to a vast library of courses taught by experts in their field.

The company has over 185,000 courses available on its platform.

Udemy makes it easy to create and deliver high-quality courses, and its wide range of features helps to ensure that courses are engaging and effective. Udemy also offers a variety of tools to help course creators promote their courses and build a following.

In short, Udemy is an ideal platform for online course creators just starting in this business.

Learn Without Limits and Get Professional Certificates

Coursera Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page
Coursera Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page

Coursera is an online learning platform that offers courses from top universities and organizations. Courses are typically 4-10 weeks long and include pre-recorded lectures, quizzes, and projects.

Most Coursera courses are free to take, but there are also some “premium” courses that come with a fee. These premium courses often offer additional features, such as a certificate of completion or access to graded assignments.

How Does Coursera Work?

Coursera courses are designed to be taken at your own pace. This means that you can start and stop a course at any time, and you don’t have to complete it in one sitting.

Once you enroll in a Coursera course, you’ll have access to all of the course materials. This includes lectures, readings, and quizzes. You can watch the lectures and work on the quizzes at your own pace.

If you want to earn a certificate for a Coursera course, you’ll need to pay a fee and complete all of the assignments. You’ll also be required to take an exam at the end of the course.

Learn from 150+ of the World’s Best, In One Membership

MasterClass Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page
Coursera Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page

MasterClass is an online learning platform for creators. Its mission is to provide anyone, anywhere with the tools and knowledge they need to create their own masterpiece.

They offer over 70 classes from the world’s best instructors, in fields including music, cooking, acting, photography, and more. Their classes are filmed in high-definition with close-ups so you can see every detail, and they come with in-depth workbooks and resources so you can follow along.

Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, we believe that there’s always room to improve your craft. With MasterClass, you can learn from the best in the business and take your creative skills to the next level.

Find Instructors with Real-World Experience

LinkedIn Learning Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page
LinkedIn Learning Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page

LinkedIn Learning is an online education platform that offers courses for professionals in a wide range of fields.

Whether you’re looking to improve your skills for the next job or want to learn something new, LinkedIn Learning can help. Their online courses are taught by experts in their field and cover everything from business and management to software development and creative arts.

If you’re interested in creating your own online courses, LinkedIn Learning is a great place to start. Their platform makes it easy to create and share your courses with the world. Plus, their wide range of features ensures that your courses are engaging and interactive.

The World’s Most Powerful Life Transformation Platform

Mindvalley Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page
Mindvalley Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page

Mindvalley is an online education company that specializes in creating transformational learning experiences for people of all ages. Their programs are designed to help people unlock their potential and live their best lives.

Some of the areas that Mindvalley focuses on include personal growth, relationships, health and fitness, spirituality, and more. They offer a variety of programs and courses that are designed to help people learn new skills and insights that can change their lives for the better.

Anyone can create a successful online course with the right tools and advice. They’ve created an online course platform that provides both. You’ll find all the resources and support you need to design, develop, and deliver your very own successful online course.

#7. edX

Start Learning from the World’s Best Institutions

Mindvalley Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page
edX Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page

edX is a nonprofit online learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT. It offers high-quality courses from top universities and institutions to learners around the world.

edX is one of the leading MOOC (massive open online course) providers. It partners with schools and organizations to offer its courses online. In addition to courses, edX also offers certificates and micro-credentials.

edX has a wide range of courses available, covering topics such as computer science, business, and humanities. edX is a great resource for anyone looking to learn new skills or improve their knowledge.

EdX provides educators with the tools and resources they need to create course content, assess student learning, and engage students in learning.

Join the Millions Learning to Code – Start Coding in Seconds

Codecademy Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page
Codecademy Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page

Codecademy is an online resource that teaches people how to code. It offers a variety of courses ranging from basic HTML and CSS to more complex programming languages like Python and Ruby. Codecademy also has a blog that discusses various topics related to coding and technology.

What makes Codecademy unique is its interactive approach to teaching. Rather than just reading a lesson and doing some exercises, Codecademy students are actually given opportunities to write and test code in their browser. This makes the learning process much more engaging and fun.

Whether you’re looking to learn how to code for the first time or want to improve your existing skills, Codecademy is a great resource. With its interactive lessons and helpful blog, it’s easy to see why so many people have benefited from using Codecademy.

Accelerate Your Career with Job-Ready Digital Skills.

Udacity Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page
Udacity Featured Image in Best Online Course Platforms Page

Udacity is a provider of online courses aimed at helping people gain new skills and advance their careers. The company’s courses are designed by leading educators and experts in various fields and are offered for free or at a low cost. Udacity also offers paid certification programs for those who wish to deepen their skills and knowledge.

Udacity’s courses cover a wide range of topics, including programming, data science, artificial intelligence, and more. The company has partnered with leading companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and IBM to offer its courses. Udacity’s mission is to make education accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or location.

Udacity offers a unique learning opportunity for online course creators. Their platform allows you to create and teach your own courses while benefiting from Udacity’s global reach and expertise in online education. They provide the tools, technology, and support you need to succeed, while you maintain control of your content and teaching style. As an Udacity course creator, you’ll join a community of educators who are passionate about making high-quality education accessible to everyone.

Get the Skills You Need for the Future of Work.

Datacamp Overview Best Online Course Platforms
Datacamp Overview Best Online Course Platforms

Datacamp is an online learning platform that helps people learn data science. It offers bite-sized, interactive courses that teach you how to analyze and model data with R, Python, and SQL.

Datacamp also has a community of over 1 million users who can help you out with any question or problem you might have.

If you’re thinking about creating an online course, Datacamp is a great platform to use. Take a look at their website and how it can help you create an awesome online course.

How to Market Your Online Course: 11 Tactics That’ll Help

The biggest frustration for online course creators is how to find the audience to sell your course on. If you’re lucky, you already have an audience from your YouTube channel, blog, or email list.

If you don’t have an existing audience, you kinda have two options: generate one or use paid marketing.

In today’s world, it’s all about social media. If you’re not on social media, you’re missing out on a big opportunity. But how can you use social media to promote your courses?

First of all, make sure you’re using the right platform. There’s no point in promoting your courses on a platform that your target audience isn’t using.

Then, create engaging content that will interest your target audience. And finally, don’t forget to include a call to action. When you use social media to promote your courses, you’ll be able to reach a larger audience and potentially increase enrollments.

Before hopping on to the best marketing tactics, make sure you’ll make your online course ready for promotion with these five checkpoints:

Start with a strong introduction. Your introduction is the first thing potential students will see, so make sure it’s engaging and informative. Give them a taste of what your course has to offer and why it’s the best choice for them.

Develop a student persona. Once you know who your ideal student is, you can tailor your marketing efforts to reach them more effectively. consider their age, location, occupation, and interests when creating your persona.

Create a landing page for your course. A well-designed landing page can be very effective in converting visitors into students. Include key information about your course and make it easy for people to sign up.

Collect emails from potential students. Email is a great way to stay in touch with potential students and promote your course. Be sure to add an email capture form to your landing page and other relevant pages on your website.

Use social media to reach potential students. Social media is a powerful tool that can help you reach a larger audience. Use it to promote your courses and drive traffic to your landing page.

Now that you’ve made sure your online course is ready for promotion, let’s move on to the marketing tactics. Here are 11 tactics that will help you market your online course and get more students enrolled.

#1. Start a Blog

The vast majority of the best-selling course makers have first started with a blog. They’ve made their name and expertise known through writing useful content in their field.

Blogging is a great way to first become known and then market your online course. You can use your blog to share tips for taking online courses, share your own experiences with online learning, or interview experts in the field.

You can also use your blog to promote your online course by sharing links to it and writing about the benefits of taking online courses. If you don’t already have a blog, you can start one for free with WordPress or Blogger. Once you’ve created your blog, be sure to promote it on social media and include a link to it on your website.

A good way to optimize your blog for search engines is to include targeted keywords in your blog title and description. You can find out which keywords are most popular for your topic by using a tool like Google AdWords Keyword Planner. Be sure to use these keywords throughout your content, as well as in the titles of any supplemental materials you create, such as PDFs or infographics.

Another way to optimize your online course for search engines is to create backlinks to your course landing page. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. The more backlinks you have pointing to your site, the higher your site will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). Creating backlinks can be done by guest blogging on other websites, participating in online forums, or submitting your course to online directories.

#2. Start a Youtube Channel

If you’re about to create an online course, you should already have a YouTube channel. Why? That’s the #1 best way to get familiar in front of the camera, build your audience, and get useful feedback from your audience.

If you’re looking to start a YouTube channel to market your online course, here are a few tips to get you started:

  • Start by creating content that is helpful and relevant to your target audience.
  • Make sure your videos are high quality and engaging, and that you are providing valuable information.
  • Optimize your videos for SEO by using keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for.

If you’re not sure where to start, check out some of the popular online courses on YouTube and see what they’re doing right. Take note of the topics they cover, the format of their videos, and the overall tone and approach.

You can also find helpful tips and advice by searching for “online course marketing” on YouTube. Once you have a good understanding of what works, start creating your own videos and promoting them on social media and other channels.

If you put in the work, you’ll be able to build a successful channel that will help you sell more courses.

#3. Start Instagram Account

Instagram has evolved into so much more than just a photo platform with its recent add-ons like video reels and stories. It’s a perfect platform to share short and funny everyday videos. It’s also popular in business communities and you can share inspirational quotes and motivational short videos.

Multiple course creators have used it successfully to launch their online course businesses.

To start an Instagram channel for online course creators, you must first create an account on the app. Once you have created your account, you can then begin to create your profile. In order to create a successful profile, you must fill out all of the information requested and include a profile picture and a cover photo. Once your profile is complete, you can start posting content.

Content ideas for an Instagram channel for online course creators include behind-the-scenes photos, screenshots of the courses, and promoting new courses. In order to gain followers, it is important to post regularly and interact with other users on the app. You can do this by liking and commenting on other users’ photos and by following other users.

Overall, Instagram is one of those mandatory platforms where people will look for confirmation if you’re a legit person behind the course. So start an Instagram account, upload a few of your best photos and create a good-looking bio even though you might not upload regularly.

#4. Create a Facebook Page/Group

Creating a Facebook page doesn’t seem as mandatory as an Instagram account for selling courses, but if it’s done correctly, it may be a great source of income.

On Facebook, people seem to love funny videos and if you find a way to promote your online course in between these videos, it may be a good choice.

An even better way to use Facebook to promote online courses is to create a Facebook group in your area of expertise. For example, you can build a recipe Facebook group and then later sell your cooking courses.

The Facebook group can become really popular as people share helpful tips with each other. The only thing you need to do is to comment from time to time and moderate the comments.

#5. Create a Twitter account

Twitter is known for its short posts and engaging community. It’s also a great tool to make your name popular and make you an expert in any area you’re good at.

Some Twitter users have launched massive businesses only out Twitter as it’s so engaging platform and people rave for the wise posters.

If you love short posts, go explore Twitter and see if you can create your audience there. If you’re not into it, don’t worry, you don’t need it to make a successful online course. Instagram is already the best tool for online verification.

#6. Collaborate on YouTube

After building your YouTube audience to a few thousand (or even fewer), you may want to start reaching out to similar-sized YouTube channels in your niche and asking if they would want to do a collaboration video with you. Collaboration videos are great for building your audience fast. This can help attract new students and boost enrollment.

#7. Appear on Guest Podcast

Guest podcasting can be a great way to market your online course. If you can find podcasts that are relevant to your target audience, reach out and see if they would be interested in having you on as a guest. You can offer to share your expertise on the podcast or even promote the course to their listeners.

#8. Write Guest Blog Posts

Another way to market your online course is to write guest blog posts on other people’s sites. This helps you get in front of new audiences and establishes you as an expert in your field. This will also work as an SEO backlinking strategy, providing you with a lot of authority in your expertise.

When writing guest blog posts, make sure to:

1. Write relevant content that is of interest to your target audience.

2. Provide value by teaching something new or offering a different perspective.

Do your research before you approach any potential site to guest blog for. Make sure that it’s a reputable site with an engaged audience that would be interested in what you have to say. Once you’ve found a good fit, reach out and pitch your idea for a guest blog post.

#9. Collect Emails

It’s kinda a go-to tactic to collect emails with a landing page in any field of business, but especially in online course business. You may think that email is only for spamming, but that’s not the case at all. If you’re able to get a visitor to happily sign-up for your newsletter, they will definitely be interested in what you have to offer.

What you need to collect email is a landing page and an email software provider. Most of the best online course platforms have built-in email and landing page tools, but they may not be as robust as the individual tools made for their purpose.

A landing page is a web page that is specifically designed to solicit email addresses from website visitors. It typically features a brief description of the course, as well as a form that website visitors can use to sign up for more information. There are a number of different ways to create a landing page, but one of the easiest is to use a service like LeadPages. LeadPages makes it easy to create beautiful, high-converting landing pages that can be up and running in minutes.

For email collecting, you may use a service called MailChimp. It integrates with pretty much anything and they have a free plan. They are also one of the easiest to use.

#10. Use Paid Advertisements

If you don’t have an audience yet, the quickest way to market an online course is to use paid ads. You can do this by yourself or by hiring a marketing agency or a freelancer. Direct ad marketing is really expensive, but if done well, you’ll scale your course to new heights instantly.

With paid ads, you can reach a large audience quickly and it can be targeted to specific demographics. There are a variety of paid ad platforms available, such as Google AdWords, YouTube, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, and LinkedIn Ads. When using paid ads, be sure to test different ad copy and images/videos to find what performs best.

#11. Affiliate Marketing

Most of the best online course platforms we’ve listed on this page come with affiliate marketing tools. These tools allow you to share a portion of your course sales with your customers or other bloggers (like us!) or YouTubers. For example, if your course costs $300, you can give $150 to anyone that refers a new customer. You’ll still get $150 that you probably wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

Make sure to give at least a 50% commission as anything smaller is really hard to promote. Trust us, we know from experience.

Here are a few tips for using affiliate marketing to promote your online courses:

  • Choose the right affiliate partners. Select affiliates who have an audience that would be interested in your course and who align with your brand.
  • Make sure you offer a competitive commission rate. Like we already said, affiliates are more likely to promote your courses if they feel they will be compensated fairly for any sales they generate.
  • Provide affiliates with creative resources. Give them access to banner ads, email templates, and other marketing materials that they can use to promote your courses.
  • Monitor your results. Keep track of how many sales each affiliate generates so that you can adjust your commission rates accordingly.

Marketing your online course can be a daunting task, but by using the right tactics, you can make it a lot easier. By starting a blog, creating social media accounts, and collaborating with others, you can reach a large audience and drive traffic to your course. Collecting emails and using paid advertisements are also great ways to market your course.

By using these tips, you can successfully market your online course and reach your target audience.

What Are the Best Online Course Platforms – Conclusion

You may now see that when it comes to online course platforms, there are plenty to choose from. Most of them have superb features and none of them is clearly above the others even though we have our favorites.

In the end, what matters most is that you just get quickly started with one of them. The number one enemy of great online courses is procrastination. If you spend too much time perfecting the choice of an online course platform, you may never get started and that’s a bummer!

Fortunately, most online course platforms offer a free trial, free plans, or money-back guarantees so you can see if their platform fits well with your course. We’d suggest you take advantage of Thinkific’s one-month free trial. You can’t go wrong with them.

In this article, we’ve outlined what we believe to be the best online course platforms to start with. We’ve also provided some tips on how to get started with each platform and create a successful online course.

So, what are the best online course platforms to start with? Here’s our top list:

Each of these platforms has its own unique benefits and features. And each one is ideal for different types of courses. So, it’s important to choose the platform that’s right for you and your course.

Thinkific is the best overall course platform while Teachable is great for beginner course creators. LearnWorlds is great for interactive community building, Kajabi is the all-in-one tool that you can also create a website with, and LearnDash is the #1 best WordPress plugin to create online courses.

No matter which platform you choose, it’s important to create a course that’s high quality and engaging. If you do that, you’ll be sure to find success as an online course instructor.

We’ve also gone through a bunch of online course platform alternatives like Skillshare, Udemy, and Coursera. These platforms are generally better if you don’t have an existing audience or don’t know how to promote your online courses.

We hope this compilation has been helpful so you can get started with making money from your courses and helping others in the field of your expertise.

Please, leave a comment below if you found this article to be helpful, if there’s anything to correct, or if you have any experiences with these platforms! Please also share what kind of courses you’re selling with these platforms. We’d love to take a look 🙂

Have a happy and inspiring online education journey!

-Team @ Crella